Surprise display



June 24, 1952 Q E D|TZ| ER ET AL 2,601,374

. SURPRISE DISPLAY Filed Feb. 24, 1947 Patented June 24, n 1952 UNITED STATES OFFICE SURPRISE DISPLAY- Application February 24, 1947, Serial No. 730,476

1 Claim. l

This invention relates to a folding display activated by resilient means such as rubber bands to spring from a compactly folded position to an upright erected position, usually representing some article or figure and thus constituting an advertising or display device.

An important object of the invention is to provide a new and improved folding display of this kind in which side portions as well as an upright or erect front portion are extended to provide a three dimensional structure in its display or erected position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a surprise display adapted to be sent as a mailing piece in folded condition such that upon opening the enclosure, the folded portion will spring upwardly into erected position, thereby providing a simple, lightweight advertising device which may be made in Various shapes and forms to represent erected structures which may themselves constitute an advertised device or may provide a medium for calling attention to the devices which it is intended to advertise.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the specification and will be apparent from the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a folded surprise display in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the structure shown in Fig. 1 in display or erected position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4a is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line fia- 4a of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective of another surprise display in accordance with this invention in its erected form;

Fig. 6 illustrates the display of Fig. 5 in folded position and as contained within an ordinary envelope shown by dotted lines; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional View taken on the line 'I-'I of Fig. 6.

Surprise displays activated by rubber bands have heretofore been proposed comprising a jointed figure which is raised from a folded position upon a supporting card, but the present invention proposes to provide a three dimensional ligure which is raised from a flat folded position, thus providing for an increased number of display structures which may be utilized for a variety of advertising and display uses.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the folding structure is mounted upon a 2 supporting base I0 of flexible light-weight material such as cardboard and usually of a size to be included in an ordinary mailing envelope.

Upon this base, the folding structure is secured adhesively or in any other suitable manner, usually adjacent one end although it may be located at any desired place, depending upon the display.

The folding structure may also be of cardboard, and in fact may be a continuation of the base consisting of a portion Il folded inwardly from one end of the base I0 and adhesively secured thereto or by staples I2. Extending as a continuation of the portion II is a front I3 of the display connected to the bottom by fold line I4 with sides I5 connected to the front by fold lines I6.

A display top I1 forms a continuation of the display front I3 connected thereto along a fold line I8.

Extending as a continuation of the top is a rear upright I9 for the display connected thereto by an extension piece 20.. The extension piece 2li is connected to the upright I9 upon a fold line 2| and to the top portion I'I by fold line 22 and the side edges of the portions I9 and 20 have angular cuts 23 and 24 respectively foldable together and extending below the top I'I in the raised position of the display.

Connecting each of the sides I5 with the top portion II is an angular folding portion 25. One edge of the angular portion 25 is connected with the side I5 by a fold line 26. Another edge of the angular portion is connected to the top portion Il by a fold line 21 and intermediate these two fold lines is an angular fold line 28. The fold lines I8 adapt these triangular portions to fold inwardly when the display is erected, thus constituting a support for the top I'I. The angular cuts 23 and 24 adapt the rear upright and its connecting portion 20 to fold compactly at the ends of the angular connecting portions 25 as clearly shown in the folding position in Fig. 1.

In order to activate the display, a rubber band 30 of the endless variety is connected to the base, the sides I5 and to the rear upright I9 by providing openings 3I near the edge of the base I0 and outside of the connected portion I I into which the band 30 may be inserted through cuts 32 extending from the edge of the base to the openings 3I; by similar openings 33 near the lower edges of the sides I5 connected to the edges thereof by cut slits 34; and by openings 35 in the rear upright I9 and its connecting extension piece 20 connected to the adjacent edges thereof by cuts 36. The broken lines in Fig. 1 show the extension piece 20 and the rear upright I9 in unfolded extending position before they are folded together in partially overlapping condition as indicated more clearly in Figs. 4 and 4a. When so overlapped, these portions (I9 and 20) are held together by the rubber band 30 which is hooked into the registering openings 35 of these two pieces as shown in Fig. 1. Intermediate the openings 33 and 35, the rubber band is crossed, that is, it extends from the opening 33 of one side to the opening 35 of the other side, with the result that when the display is released from the folding position as shown in Fig. 1, the rubber band will tend to swing the entire folding structure upwardly with respect to the base I9 upon the fold line I4, and at the same time as the folding structure is swung upwardly, the sides l5 will be swung outwardly. At the same time the top I1 will be folded on the fold line I8 and the rear upright will be swung into upright position upon its fold line 22. Cross connection of the strands of the rubber band 30 is not absolutely necessary but the sides are swung more definitely to their outer position and the surprise action of the display is more quick and snappy than if the bands are not crossed.

With this construction, the display device when unfolded and extended constitutes substantially a continuation of one end of the base I0 and all of the outer sides of the display device and of the top l0 of the base may be simultaneously printed, which is a considerable value from a cost standpoint if a large number of the display devices are to be produced.

Another form of this display is shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 wherein a semi-cylindrical figure is erected upon a base 5l. This display may also be made of one piece of material printed upon one side only and comprising a bottom portion 52 having rounded side edges 53 connected at the front by a hinge 54 with a front piece 55 constituting the curved surface of the semi-cylindrical figure. It has sides 56 foldable upon hinges 51, and near the edges of the sides are openings 58 each connected to the adjacent edge by slits 59. At the top of the front piece 55 is a hinge 60 connecting it with a semi-circu- Y lar top piece 6| having a hinge 62 connecting it with a back piece 63 of Substantially the same height as the front piece 55. At the bottom of the back piece 63 is a semicircular bottom piece 64 foldable upon a hinge 65 and adhesively or otherwise secured to that portion of the bottom piece 52 having the rounded edges 53.

To activate this display, a rubber band 66 is inserted into the openings 58 through the slots 59, the intermediate portions of the band are crossed, and the other extremity is inserted into the openings 61 near the rear edge of the base 55 through slits 68.

As soon as this folding display is released from an envelope 'I0 in which it is enclosed, the rubber band activator will pull the display upwardly from the base 55 erecting the display to the position shown in Fig. 5, pulling the front of the display upwardly upon the hinge 54 and raising the back plate upon its hinge 65. Since this display pulls the opposite sides 56 inwardly, the openings 6l for the rubber band 66 may be located within the side edges of the bottom piece 52, and by crossing the strands of the rubber band, the opposite sides are pulled more tightly inward, thus completing the rounded front of the display gure.

As thus presented, it is apparent that surprise display devices of great variety may be presented operated by rubber bands, and providing different structures when set up, capable of being used for a wide variety of articles, particularly for advertising. The element of surprise added to the novelty of the structure will cause the device to be repeatedly operated, and to be retained and shown to a large number of people, thus adding to its value as an advertising device.

While two somewhat diierent constructions are shown, they should be regarded as illustrations rather than limitations of the invention, as various changes in the construction, combination and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

A surprise display comprising a supporting flat base, a foldable display of sheet material having a front portion hinged to the base to swing uprightly, a top hinged to the front portion, sides hinged to the edges of the front portion and each side having angular hinged portions connecting it to the adjacent end of the top and these angular portions collapsing together when the display is distended, the sides and said angular portions foldable relatively inward of their connection with the display front when the display is collapsed, and an endless resilient band having opposite portions engaging the base and the top to swing the display upwardly with the top overlying the front and with intermediate portions of the band extending angularly so that one overlaps the other engaging the said sides and swinging them outwardly, collapsing the angular hinged portions together and swinging the sides outwardly to hold the front in erect position and to support the top in horizontal position and with the main portions of the resilient band enclosed by the connected front, top and side portions thus erected.

GUY E. DITZLER. MAURICE B. KOVNAT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

